After having
spoken to one of the guests at Fugitive's
Drift we decided to take a trip via Ladysmith to Spienkop. A
mountain upon which one of the more famous battles of the Boer War
took place. Many men perished and just as many were injured in this
battle. There are a number of rather macabre trenches into which
British men were buried after the battle.

A picture exists,
but is a little too disturbing to publish. My Dad was particularly
interested in this site as many of the men who fought here were
from the Lancashire Regiment, the barracks of whom was directly
opposite his house in Warrington when he was a child.

The graves on Spienkop

We didn't know
beforehand, but it was the 101st anniversary of the battle on this
very day. It was windy, but sunny and we all spent quite some time
reading the memorials and walking around the site.

There is a well
done tableau which goes through the events that led to the battle,
and this proved most useful as we really knew nothing of the events
surrounding Spienkop.

It should be
noted that anyone trying to find this memorial and coming from Ladysmith
should cross the N3 motorway, using the N11 (which turns into the
R616) and drive for approximately 6km. Do not take the first sign
you see, which is before you cross the N3, as we did, as you will
end up on the wrong side of the mountain and end up driving for
and hour to get back to where you started!! I must admit this was
my fault.

We then drove
back to Benoni via the N3 motorway. The scenery was spectacular
and I even managed to pay a quick visit to the smallest Church in
the world!

The view from Spienkop

After having
got a little lost on our way back, we spent the evening recovering
from the drive, and my Dad and I, preparing for the flight the next
morning to Port Elizabeth to visit Dalton's
Grave.